


This Had Better Come To A Stop

by Leviusify



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Counselling, Depression, F/M, God Complex, Messiah Complex, Modern AU, Self Harm, Severe social anxiety, Social Anxiety, Therapy, bad ending?, severe self harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:15:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29931231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leviusify/pseuds/Leviusify
Summary: Byleth is a young life skills therapists, helping out troubled youths. He's paid a handsome amount of money for constant meetings with a young girl, Bernadetta Von Varley, but can't help falling for her along the way.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Bernadetta von Varley
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Byleth, 22 year old life skills therapist, stood outside of the apartment door of one 17 year old Bernadetta Von Varley. Bernadetta’s father, a rich businessman, was very direct when he contacted Byleth through the means of the company he was a part of. Efficient was a good way to describe the man. He gave Byleth the address of his daughter, some personal information about her to help him identify her, and said that he wanted her condition to be improved, stating that she had social issues.

Needless to say, Byleth was a bit suspicious of the man, but a job was a job. Byleth found that wearing something comfortable, yet scholarly to the first meeting would give him an air of trust, but playful friendliness. As such, he was dressed in comfortable corduroys and an academic looking black long sleeved button up shirt. He had his kit, filled with notebooks and pens and other little things that he would use during the session. He lifted his hand up and knocked on the door. The best thing to do was to be upfront, especially with someone that had “social issues”. 

Knock knock knock.

“Hello? Bernadetta? I’m here for an appointment with you. He heard some shuffling around from inside, and put on a gentle smile as the girl presumably looked through the peephole. He heard the sound of a lock unlocking. Then another lock clanked apart, and one final lock. Finally, the door opened. In front of him stood a smallish looking girl in what looked like pajamas. The second thing that hit him was the rank stench. He didn’t want to be mean, really, but he could tell this girl had not bathed in… a while, to say the least. They could work on that later. As he walked into her room, it was a very small apartment. It was just a large room with a kitchen section, a bed section, and a small desk where a computer was. There was a door that presumably led to a restroom or something. It was a mess. On a small coffee table in front of the door, there were empty bags of what looked like Taco Bell, at least a dozen empty chinese food boxes, and littering the floor were empty cans and other bags. She didn’t seem like the type of person that left her room often. Byleth kept his smile proudly, and entered the room. Bernadetta mumbled out loud “I’m sorry about the mess…” and limply threw an empty soda bottle into an overflowing trash can. Byleth shook his head. “It’s fine. You should see where I stay, I’m a bit of a slob myself.” Byleth walked over to the large bed, which was covered in stuffed animals. He looked at Bernadetta. “Do you mind if I sit?” She shook her head. “...Go ahead. It’s okay with me.” Byleth sat down at the edge of the bed, and set his bag down and began to open it, revealing a notebook. He took out a pen and began to write.

“Bernadetta Von Varley”

“17”

“Reclusive Behavior”

Byleth looked up to Bernadetta and smiled. She stood awkwardly at the edge of the bed. Byleth spoke. “You can lay down here, if you want. It’s your room, after all.” He joked.

Bernadetta quickly walked over and flopped down on her bed, snuggling underneath the covers. Byleth, book in his hand, felt like he was going to read her a bedtime story, not give her a counseling session. Byleth smiled at her, and clicked his pen.

“Let’s begin, shall we?”

It took him about five minutes into the counseling session to establish effective trust with Bernadetta. He knew that recluses might hide themselves from the world, but human contact was joyous for them. They had talked briefly about a game they both liked, a fantasy strategy game which she liked a lot. Byleth had played it himself, but didn’t find it as remarkable as Bernadetta clearly did. But he still nodded and chatted along with her, letting her talk herself into a sense of security with him. He noticed that she had turned over onto her side under the blanket, gripping a large bear. Byleth carefully began to pry.

“Did you drop out of high school?”  
Bernadetta sighed. “Yeah… I didn’t like all the people. I’m sorry, is that bad?”

Byleth shook his head. “No, it’s okay. It’s good that you know how to change your lifestyle to better yourself. That's a skill that not a lot of people have.”

It was only a _slight_ lie, really. If she knew how to change her lifestyle to better suit her mental health, her room would not be in the state it was in, that was assured. Bernadetta blushed. Heavily. She didn’t receive complements often it seemed. 

“Oh. W-wow. Thank you. Thanks a lot for saying that, I mean. Thanks.”

Byleth continued to write.

“No Positive Affirmation Given”

He looked up at her and nodded. “Just stating the facts, Ms. Varley.” 

Bernadetta chuckled. “Yeah. High school just wasn’t really it for me. Everyone was hustling and bustling trying to get to Garreg Mach university one day. If I could just live here, by myself, off of my dad’s money, that was fine with me.”

She clasped her hands over her ears.

“Oh no. That sounded really bad. I’m sorry-”

Byleth cut her off.

“It’s perfectly fine Bernadetta. It’s your life, I’m not here to tell you how to live it.”

Well, actually, that was in his job description, but never mind that.

She hugged against her bear even tighter.

“I wish that I had made more friends back then, good things never seemed to last…”

30 minutes in now, just about. Bernadetta was really spilling her heart out. It was clear she was quite the talker, but she never really had nobody to talk with. In school she kept close friends, but they separated after she dropped out. She wrote a lot of original work and posted it online, and she had a relative amount of fame there. He congratulated her on that and she blushed, but quickly declined when he asked if he could read any. As the conversation progressed, Byleth naturally stopped asking questions of his own, and built off what she talked about. That was mainly how counselling went, the questions were just a way for people to open up about themselves, and when they did that, Byleth could ask more questions, learn more about them. This cycle would eventually lead to an eventual treatment, and then he could start looking towards improvement. But an unexpected twist occured as she talked more about herself: She started asking questions about Byleth. What college he went to, about his family, what games he liked, other mundane things. He could tell that Bernadetta was happiest in the session when she was asking about him. She smiled and nodded her head pleasantly as he told her about when he started first working as a life skills therapist. She responded in kind, telling him things about her own life, about how she was as a kid, and eventually opening up more about the fiction she wrote. Byleth smiled wistfully. He knew what was happening here, and he didn’t have many tools to counter it. In a way, he didn’t want to. Bernadetta was making a friend. Part of him said that he needed to reaffirm that their relationship was built on mutual trust, but also business. Another, more vocal part of him said that she was stepping out of her comfort zone and he needed to encourage and reward that type of behavior. She had opened up to him a lot once they started becoming “friends”, confessing that she hadn’t felt very happy in a long time, and that Byleth was making her happy. This was all going terribly wrong. Somewhere along the line, Bernadetta had insisted that she couldn’t hear Byleth very well, and had him scoot closer. He sat on the bed edge now, Bernadetta now navigating closer to him. Bernadetta requested him after a long talk about her favorite foods: “Can you pet my hair?”  
Byleth had to stop. This was wrong. This wasn’t rewarding positive behavior or self improvement. This was crossing the line. But he couldn’t resist. He had a god complex, he really did. He felt ecstatic when he improved people’s life, and seeing Bernadetta happy made him feel so good. He had known her for only about 40 minutes, and he already could see so much improvement from her. She was coming out of her shell so much. Byleth reached out his hand and embedded it into her rank, greasy hair. She mewled (honestly, mewled) as he caressed her sticky hair. She writhed around in her bed, and leaned into his touch.

30 more minutes had passed. At this point, they were both shooting the shit. Messiah complex. To feel good when you make someone feel good. To see her laugh along with him as they talked about whatever came to their minds. He was so disgusting. By the end of it, Bernadetta was as comfortable with him as they would be with a best friend. (Or something more) DON’T THINK THAT. This session was a fluke. An odd bonding experience in trust. Well, he’d done it. Trust was established with her. Next session they could go out into the real world. Talk to other real people. Not this. He would stop this. His phone rang in his pocket.

He looked up at Bernadetta and smiled.

“Well, that's about it, I have to go now.”

He bowed his head.

“It was a really fun time talking to you, Bernadetta!”

Bernadetta looked scared. Her mouth was agape. She leapt up from the bed and grabbed his arm. God, she smelled rank.

“T-that’s it? We’re done?”

Byleth was confused.

“Yes. That’s the end of our session today. It was fun!”

Bernadetta looked distressed.

“W-Will you come back? Ever?”  
Byleth spoke carefully.

“...Yes. Our next session is this Friday. At the same time. I’ll be back, don’t worry.”

Bernadetta’s face washed over with clear relief.  
“Oh. O-okay. That’s good. Okay. Friday.”

Bernadetta approached Byleth, and embraced him in a warm hug.

“Thanks for talking to me today.”

Byleth stood in the elevator and slammed his head against the wall. The right thing to do was give up this case. Refer it to someone else more experienced. Never see Bernadetta again for the rest of his life. Leave this behind as a bad memory of a time where he crossed the line between patient and friend. Where he led an insecure girl on to try and break her out of her cage. 

Byleth didn’t always do the right thing.

Bernadetta smiled and returned to her bed, before snuggling into the covers. She moved her left leg out to where Byleth had sat down. She felt the warmth seep underneath her covers into her leg. She grinned and hummed a happy song to herself. She should clean up the place a bit before Byleth came back. She wanted to impress him. He would be her boyfriend, and they could sleep together in her bed, and she would get hugged every day, and they could talk like they did today so much. He would cook for her, and they would just lie in bed all day with each other. Bernadetta rubbed her hand in the spot where Byleth had sat down at the edge of her bed, and rubbed it on her face. She smiled as she felt his scent enter her pores.

She really had to clean this place up.

Friday. Byleth dreaded arriving back at Bernadetta’s room. He had to be business minded, now. They would go out today, practice social life skills. It was going to be different. Okay. 

The elevator dinged. Her floor. Let’s do this.

She had taken a shower this morning, for the first time in forever. She had cleaned until she had a full garbage bag, and the small table was mostly empty now, as was most of the floor. She had been waiting in bed all day. She snuggled closer to her pillow and mentally braced herself. Haah… Her boyfriend… She tossed and turned around and snuggled into her blankets until she was up to her neck. 

There was a knocking on the door. “Bernadetta? It’s me, Byleth. I’m here for our session today.” The door opened and Byleth saw a grinning Bernadetta. Byleth smiled back and stepped in the door. He was taken aback by the amount of cleaning that had taken place. While the room was still a mess and filled with junk, it went to show that she was improving, although slightly. She noticeably smelled better. Bernadetta’s grin grew stronger as she quickly walked around her room before hopping onto her bed and climbing into the covers. Byleth stepped towards Bernadetta’s bed and sat down onto the edge. Bernadetta smiled at him from under the covers.

“So, how have you been between our sessions?”

Bernadetta talked all about how she was trying to clean up lately, and that she had taken a shower, and that she’d been in bed all day still. Byleth smiled and laughed and nodded along as he wrote notes down onto his paper. Bernadetta began to ask him questions like last time, to try and get along with her new “friend”. Byleth humored her, seeing her happy when he replied with a question of his own. Eventually, Byleth had enough talk.

“Bernadetta, we’re going to do an activity together today!”

Bernadetta poked her head up out of the covers. “R-really? That sounds nice.” Bernadetta looked around her room. “Are we going to play games together?” She smiled gently. Byleth shook his head. “No, we’re going to go outside for a bit and get some fresh air.” Bernadetta stopped. “I-I can’t do that. Nuh uh.” She was visibly distressed. “I don’t need any fresh air right now. I can open up the window if you want, but I don’t wanna go outside, okay? I’m sorry.” Byleth was going to have to play fast and loose to try and get her outside. “Well, I was thinking we could go out to order ice cream. It’s a good day for ice cream, I assure you. I’ll pay, don’t worry.” Bernadetta gulped. “I-if you want any food, I have leftovers in the fridge, if you want food… I don’t want to go outside to order anything right now.” Byleth nodded and looked down. “Alright, I see.” He clasped his notebook together and stood up. “Our next session is Sunday. I’ll be seeing you then, alright Bernadetta?” He began walking towards the door. As he put his hand on the knob, he felt a hand grasp his from behind. “No! Wait!” He turned around to see a panicked Bernadetta. “I’ll come, I guess. J-just make it quick, okay!”  
  


Bernadetta was in Byleth’s car, and that was incredible. He put her hand on the middle compartment, and imagined Byleth reaching out and squeezing it as he drove. They were like boyfriend and girlfriend on a date. This was like her first date with Byleth. She hummed along gently as they drove. Eventually, the car lurched to a stop and Byleth got out. Bernadetta realized they were really there, they were really in the outside world. Bernadetta’s legs shook as she realized that people were walking up and down the sidewalk they were on. People were driving up and down the street. There was a couple sitting at a bench outside. There were so many benches, and so many people that Bernadetta thought she could scream. Families, couples, random people, so many others. So many people scattered all around them. Bernadetta wanted to run away, to get back in the car and huddle up against the seat. Instead, she grabbed onto Byleth’s arm for dear life. They walked into the store, and a bell rang. It was a small chain store, and Bernadetta gasped at all the flavors of ice cream on display. She hadn’t had ice cream in a long time. You couldn’t really order ice cream. Bernadetta and Byleth were greeted by a chipper blue haired teen working the register. Bernadetta leaned away as she scrutinized the flavors of ice cream. Byleth nudged her on her shoulder and handed her a ten dollar bill. “Alright, when you’ve picked something out, go up and order for us, alright? Just get me a scoop of vanilla.” Byleth squeezed her shoulder and stood by the window of the store, looking out. Order for them? Byleth seemed resigned to the window, she’d be bothering him too much to ask him to order, at least she thought. She turned back towards the blue haired teen. But she couldn’t possibly order. She’d mess it up! But she couldn’t bother Byleth either. What a mess she was in… 

Bernadetta finally approached the counter. Byleth wanted vanilla, and she would get strawberry. She would just say it quickly and get out. She clenched the ten dollar bill in her fist and looked up. She gulped, but was cut off before she could begin to speak.

“You’re hopeless, aren’t you?” Said the blue haired boy with the same smile on his face. Bernadetta stuttered.

“What a joke. The daughter of the Varley family, living off her daddy’s money, has to hire her own boyfriend. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad!”

Bernadetta was mouthing something, but no words came out.

“You know that when the checks stop coming in, he’ll leave you, right? It’s literally his job, you know. How disgusting. I mean, he’ll do anything as long as you foot the bill. Hold you, kiss you, so many things as long as you keep giving him the money. You idiot. He’s going to keep doing this, you know. Keep embarrassing you like this. It pleases him, greatly, to see you squirm. But still, he is your for hire boyfriend, and he’ll do anything for you as long as you ask him, right? Now stop fucking around Bernadetta, and order some fucking ice cream.”

Bernadetta stepped back from the counter, panicking. The blue haired kid tilted his head. “Excuse me? Are you okay?”

Bernadetta slammed the 10 dollars on the counter, and began to speak. “One scoop of vanilla and one scoop of strawberry, please! Thank you!”

Bernadetta’s legs were quaking as the boy looked at her quizzically, before grabbing a scooper and going towards the various ice cream bins. Byleth stepped up behind her and rubbed her shoulder a bit. She looked up at him, distrustful, but his smile filled her with confidence. The man working the register handed them their food and Byleth thanked him, and they both quickly left the store. Bernadetta began quickly walking towards his car, but Byleth called out “Let’s go on a walk, alright? It’s a lovely day for walking.” Bernadetta stopped, but agreed. “All right, I-If you want, I guess.” Bernadetta and Byleth walked side by side through the city, not talking much. Eventually, Byleth spoke up. “Was it scary to order that food yourself?” Bernadetta thought about what she had imagined the man saying to her. “Yeah. Definitely. Let’s not do that again.” Byleth chuckled in response. “How do you expect to get better at talking with strangers if you don’t practice?” Bernadetta held her head towards her feet, purple hair obstructing her eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t want to talk to strangers. I just want to stay in my room all day.” Bernadetta resisted the urge to finish her sentence by saying “With you” but caught herself. Byleth looked at her seriously. “You can stay in your room all you want, but it’s a good life skill to know how to talk to people and take care of yourself.” Bernadetta said nothing, but shrugged. They continued walking together. Even though they were surrounded by so many people, Bernadetta found it comforting as long as she was with Byleth.

Byleth looked down at Bernadetta, and saw her smile as she took in the world around her. He had seen her behavior when she got out of the car, how she was shocked by the people and the other life of the city. How she froze up when ordering for them both, but overcame herself. It was clear that she was improving at a rapid pace. It might only take a couple of months before she could come back to society. But Byleth couldn’t really put his finger on the exact reason why. He had expected four sessions at least before she started making an effort to improve her living space, but he’d done it in one. Byleth wouldn’t get a big head though, it was clear it was not through his means that something this drastic would happen. The only real explanation might have been the physical touch he rewarded Bernadetta with. But… That was mad. Even if it was supposed to be that, it’s not like he could shower Bernadetta in physical praise. Petting her like a dog was not a very professional behavior. He glanced back at her again, and their eyes met. Bernadetta’s eyes were large and curious, and did not look away when his eyes met hers. Byleth looked away. They ought to be getting back to the car soon.

Bernadetta was reminded by a book she had read once, one of those classical hard to understand books that everyone knew about. Romeo and Juliet, she had given up halfway through, but she recalled the passages of flowery language about the eyes of the two lovers. She had never understood what obsessions romance novels had about eyes until hers locked with Byleth. Those azure eyes seemed to go on forever, like deep oceans. Her mouth slightly opened as she continued to dwell in them. At one point he looked away, but Bernadetta continued to stare. How beautiful. She wondered if what she imagined was true. Her father was paying him, and probably quite a large amount of money, too. Would he do anything she commanded him to? She would find out later. She climbed into the car and hummed to herself.

Byleth entered Bernadetta’s room after her, ready to wrap things up. 

“Do you feel a bit better about talking with people?”  
Bernadetta smiled. “Sure.” (Only when you’re around.)

Byleth smiled at her. “Well, that’s better than you were before, right?” He chuckled. “I’ll be seeing you soon Bernadetta, alright? Is there anything else you want to discuss?”

Bernadetta sat up from the bed and wrapped her arms around Byleth. She was maybe half a foot smaller than him, and nuzzled her head into his chest. But despite Bernadetta’s hopes, Byleth did not respond to her. She stayed in this position, reveling in Byleth’s warmth and comfort. He felt like a pillow to her, a sea of light and warm radiance that she could get lost in. Eventually, Byleth put a hand on her shoulder, and gently pushed her off. Bernadetta looked up at him expectantly.

“...I’ll be seeing you Sunday, Bernadetta.”

He turned around and left, closing the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth and Bernadetta finally reach agreement.

Sunday. Byleth waited outside of Bernadetta’s apartment complex in his car. He didn’t know why he was waiting, really. Maybe he was just trying to delay himself. That was likely it. He put his head on his steering wheel and closed his eyes hard enough to make his head hurt, like he was trying to disappear from this reality like a bad dream. He finally sat up, and looked at his car door. It was almost time for their session. He wouldn’t get paid for not doing anything, that was for sure. It was time to get going.

Byleth looked at the car door, unmoving.

Yep. Time to get a move on.

Byleth looked at Bernadetta’s apartment building.

Okay. Get up and get at them. Come on. Let’s go.

Byleth looked at his car door and slumped back in his seat.

...This is terrible. But he had to go see Bernadetta. He didn’t know whether it was a sense of obligation to her or the contract that motivated him, but he sighed and left the car. He stepped into the elevator, and as the doors closed and it began to move upwards, he rubbed his temple with his hands and sighed. 

Bernadetta lay in her bed in her room. The lights were out, and the room was dark. The only thing that illuminated her was the slight blue light of her alarm clock on the bedside table. It was a perfect environment for her “ritual”. Her breathing was broken and shaky. She took a deep breath in with her mouth.

“Ha-aah. Ha-aah.”

She laid atop her blanket, dark liquid flowing all around her. She wore small shorts and a T shirt, to have more access to the parts of her skin. She looked down at herself. Long, deep cuts ran from the bottom of her arm to the end of her shirt. Her legs were decorated with smaller cuts, as well as longer ones that striped all the way down her legs. Dark liquid seeped out of her wounds, pooling around her in her blanket. She closed her eyes, and opened them again.

“H-ha-aah.”

As she was about to close her eyes again, until she felt a warm presence radiate from behind her. She gasped as Byleth put his arms around Bernadetta’s waist, and enveloped her from the side. Byleth nuzzled his head into Bernadetta’s neck. Bernadetta was shocked.

“B-Byleth? You came?”   
He smiled in affirmation and placed a kiss on Bernadetta’s neck. “Of course I came for you, Bernadetta. You’re my world.”

Bernadetta couldn’t move her bloodied body. She smiled and leaned back in relaxation. “Oh, thank you Byleth. Thank you so much.”

Byleth squeezed his arms tighter around her and left a trail of kisses down her neck. She groaned and tried to move to return his affection, but the bloody wounds covering her body stung when she tried to maneuver. She was a messiah of pain. 

She began to tear up, the cuts stinging. She groaned in pain, but Byleth ran a hand down her face, and spoke to her.

“Yes, Bernadetta. Bleed for me. I love it when you cut yourself for me.”

Bernadetta retrieved a razor from her pocket, and dug it into her leg, hissing in pain. Byleth patted her head.

“There there, I know it hurts, but it pleases me so much. Do it for me, Bernadetta.”

Bernadetta whimpered as she retrieved the bloody razor and pocketed it. She cried tears of pain into Byleth’s chest. She whispered.

“F-for you. Anything for you.”

Byleth squeezed tightly in response, and spoke once more.

“Bleed for me, child of pain.”

Byleth stood outside of Bernadetta’s door and tried to mentally psych himself up, to no avail. The door was open just a sliver, and from inside he could hear labored breathing. That was… Strange, to say the least. Mumbled whisperings came from the door, and he could smell iron in the air. He peeked through the crack in the door. The room was dark. Was she even in there? His face turned pale when he saw Bernadetta, covered in scrapes and long cuts, lying on her bed. He practically burst down the door as he ran in. He scrambled for the lightswitch, flicking it on. Bernadetta lay on top of her covers, her body covered in dozens of long bleeding cuts. Byleth’s adrenaline surged past his paralyzing fear, and he shouted.

“BERNADETTA!”

Bernadetta smiled, and meekly raised her hand towards Byleth. Byleth rushed to her to inspect her. She was losing a lot of blood. He didn’t know how she had managed to cut herself this much, really. Byleth took the cover she was on and wrapped it around her, hoping that it would help some while he did something- anything, really. Bernadetta mewled in pain as the cover dug into her wounds. She was wrapped up fully now, and Byleth went to her bathroom, stomping through the mess on her floor. He looked to try and find some sort of first aid kit he could use. He pried on the bathroom mirror, but it didn’t look like it opened at all. He checked a drawer under the sink, and when opening it, discovered a red medical kit. It looked like it had never been used. He grabbed a hand towel from off a rack, and ran it under the sink until it became sopping wet. He ran back into the main room, almost tripping over a pile of junk on the floor. Bernadetta was strangely humming to herself. Byleth unwrapped Bernadetta from her bloody blanket, and dabbed at her bleeding wounds with the wet towel. He continued to wet her wounds until he got almost all of them. He quickly opened up the medical kit, and found a small wipe with disinfectant on it. Bernadetta whimpered as Byleth rubbed the disinfectant on her wounds. Bernadetta twisted and squirmed, Byleth trying to calm her down and keep her still all the while. 

Bernadetta breathed heavily and labored.

“Haah… Haah…”

Her breathing was shaky, but she still wore a smile on her face. Byleth was touching her gently, laying his hands all over her body. Bernadetta could only smile gleefully, eyes lost in passion, as Byleth applied bandages to her wounds. Byleth continued to patch up Bernadetta. The bleeding had all stopped by now. Disinfectant had been applied, the wounds cleaned, and thick bandages now covered Bernadetta’s body. Byleth stepped back from the bed to look at his handiwork. The blanket was covered with blood, and Berndadetta herself was stained with it in some places. When Byleth stepped up off the bed, Bernadetta mewled and reached out both her hands, trying to clutch him back down. Byleth sat at the edge of Bernadetta’s bed. She looked up at him, smiling. “How have you been, Byleth?”

Bernadetta had managed to carefully, and slowly, work her way under the blood stained covers. Byleth had been bombarding her with questions. How long she had been doing this, whether this would be her final attempt, and she answered dutifully. Her eyes were lax and dreamy, like she was in a haze of some sort. She would hum to herself between each of Byleth’s questions, and sometimes wouldn’t answer at all, instead choosing to gaze longingly into Byleth’s eyes. Byleth was panicked at this point. Was some of it his fault? Definitely. Probably. Was Bernadetta out of her goddamn mind? Yes. Did he see how Bernadetta looked dreamily into his eyes? Yes. Did he imagine touching her gently, caressing her as they locked lips? Yes. Was Byleth a terrible person for taking advantage of someone so insecure? Yes. Was Byleh extremely attracted by her insane tendencies and clear feelings? Yes.

Was Byleth crossing a line that he had vowed not to cross, and making the steps into a world of insanity where he reigned? Absolutely. 

Bernadetta spoke up.

“Byleth, it’s cold under these covers. C-can you please join me?

Byleth smiled. “As long as it makes you comfortable, Bernadetta.”

  
  


“Come back to bed, Byleth. Please.”

Byleth chuckled as he got up. He had moved into Bernadetta’s tiny apartment, and he had made it a lot cleaner.

“I’m sorry, love. Someone’s gotta cook breakfast.”

Bernadetta yawned. “O-okay. Do you have to see anyone today?”

Byleth opened the fridge of the small kitchen area, and retrieved a carton of eggs. Bernadetta slowly got up and crept behind him.

“Yes, Bernadetta. It’ll only be for a while though, I promise.” Byleth still worked as a counselor, although he now had no excuse for being on a moral high ground with the relationship that he was in. Bernadetta wrapped her arms around him and clung to him like a child.

“P-Please don’t cheat on me, okay? I love you too much.”

Byleth chuckled. Bernadetta was always worried about him whenever he went out to see a client, especially a female one. But she didn’t have to. Byleth loved how much Bernadetta loved him, so in return he gave her his love.

Byleth petted Bernadetta’s head. “Don’t worry, Bernie. I love you too.” Bernadetta walked aimlessly around the kitchen, humming to herself.

“You wanna play video games with me?”

Byleth laughed. “Soon, alright?”

Bernadetta stammered a bit as she looked out the window. “Everything’s going to be alright, right Byleth?”

Byleth stepped behind her and embraced her.

“Yes, sweetheart. Everything will be fine.”


End file.
